Lucy shares this latest news from Hampshire & Isle of Wight Community Foundation. Ed
Local charities make up the lifeblood of our communities. They make a daily difference to millions of people. That’s why Community Foundations are proud to announce, on Local Charities Day, that collectively we have distributed ONE BILLION POUNDS to local charities.
This milestone shows the impact that Community Foundations have had on local communities. In the last year alone we distributed £77 million in grants and 4.7million people were impacted by our work. From floods to fuel poverty to food banks, we support communities where they need it the most.
Support all sizes of charities
We reach every postcode in the UK and this reach means that we support the very smallest charities and community groups, who often go unnoticed by many. But it’s these charities that are a lifeline for so many people and desperately need our support
The local Community Foundation for our area is the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Community Foundation (HIWCF), which last year awarded grants worth £1.1m to some of the most deprived wards in the area.
One of these grants was awarded to Friends of the Family, a charity working with parents and children struggling with family life.
Friends of the Family
Friends of the Family run a project in Winchester Prison to befriend inmates who are parents in the last few months of their sentence and HIWCF were pleased to support this project managed by Charlie Wright; recognising that many Dad’s coming out of prison require extra support and mentoring.
Charlie has been helping one of the father’s, we’ll call him ‘Peter’, a train driver who had to cope with a passenger falling in front of his train and the death of his pregnant wife and baby, leaving him to bring up six children alone.
Shortly afterwards, one of Peter’s friends claimed paternity of his youngest child and after a fight Peter was given a two year jail sentence for GBH.
Charlie has helped Peter adjust to the outside world on his release, helping him secure a full time job as a bus driver, find accommodation and gather his children back together from their different care homes to rebuild the family unit.
Charlie’s work is only a small part of what Friends of the Family do, but a great example of where a small amount of grant money can make a huge difference to people’s lives.
Work with incredible local charities
Fabian French, Chief Executive of UK Community Foundations, said
“At UK Community Foundations we’re proud to work with incredible local charities day in day out. We understand the needs of the communities we work in and direct grants to causes that will meet that need and will make the biggest difference.
“That’s why we passionately support Local Charities Day and why Community Foundations are what the Chair of the Charity Commission says ‘exactly what charities should be’.”
Support your local Community Foundation and help us reach two billion pounds so we can continue to support local communities.
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